Mail Call - Feb. 26

“This being Presidents Day and all, I got a little tidbit for everybody. My wife, my wife’s great-great-great aunt was Mary Todd Lincoln. So she’s got the Lincoln blood through her. Fascinating, isn’t it? She’s related to the Todds.”— Hagerstown

“Nice article on the 17th, about the local financial and economic factors and indicators. Wake up, Washington County, city of Hagerstown, and state of Maryland. Look what’s happened in West Virginia and Pennsylvania, especially, with the Intermodal. Look what CSX and also Norfolk Southern, with the Intermodal: Thousands of jobs and a lot of money. Our economic factors don’t rely on the airport and existing industries and education. We need other jobs.”— Leitersburg

“Many local eateries offer coupons, for which I am grateful. However, I am annoyed at the ‘must present coupon before ordering’ rule. Most coupons are for 10 percent off, or $2 off, and are not complicated or need further explanation. I feel that if I present the coupon before ordering, I may receive an inferior product, like fewer toppings or less meat, etc. Anybody else feel like I do?”— Williamsport

“Has anyone else noticed that the lesser Limbaugh’s Saturday morning articles are always the same story, only with a different set of adjectives? Would the man even have a job had President Obama not been re-elected? I guess his career is based on the recognition he gets as the little brother of Rush the magnificent.”— Hagerstown

“Regarding the comment from Funkstown on Feb. 14: ... No one wants to put children in harm’s way, and most people have no problem with going 15, 20, or 25 mph in a school zone during the two times during the day, in the morning and again in the afternoon, when children are walking to school or back home. However, this speed is excessively slow when the children are in the school during the day or not in school at all. Many schools have lights flashing, with signs saying you must go 15 mph (or higher depending on the school/county) when that light is flashing all day long. Many times these lights are even flashing when the school is out for a holiday.”— Smithsburg

“Not a square to spare: Now I’m not suggesting the editor of The Herald-Mail does this on purpose (cough, cough), but I find it interesting that the paper would have room for two pro Obama-Hagel stories in one day, but no room for the fact-checking sites that destroyed the State of the Union speech.”— Smithsburg

“Do you think it’s very surprising, now that we don’t hear anything about high gas prices, and they keep on rising and food prices keep on rising, and if President Bush was in there, the liberal news media would be calling him big oil man, and he doesn’t know what he’s doing. But I guess it’s those darn Republicans doing it. That’s what President Obama always says. He’s a good blamer. Not much of a leader, but he’s a good blamer.”— Boonsboro

“Maryland’s murder rate is the third highest in the nation. It’s ... 47 percent higher than in Pennsylvania. ... When I lived in Pennsylvania, I could buy any gun I wanted. I had the right to own a handgun, without restrictions. Now some of the people in Annapolis want to ban certain types of guns, and fingerprint law-abiding citizens. Why am I being penalized for living in Maryland?”— Hagerstown

“I’m calling about these oil companies. I wish, when you’re on automatic, they would come around more often. They wait so late to come, and then you have a great big bill, and that’s hard on us senior citizens. I wish they’d think more about the senior citizens and come before it gets too empty.”— Williamsport

“This is to the Greencastle caller who said all Americans need to help true Americans. I’d like to know how he expects us to identify these true Americans. What does a true American look like? How can we tell they’re true American? I just think it’s an odd call, and it seems like it has some racial undertones. I’d like to know what he means by this. Also, for all the people who don’t want the stadium, you guys don’t understand that you need to spend some money to redevelop the downtown. If you don’t do it, businesses will not locate here for the better jobs.”— Hagerstown

“This is on Boy Scouts. I hope the Boy Scouts of America keeps the ban on gays. I think that’s pretty ridiculous. I mean, the federal government’s got this country (messed) up now, the states got the states all (messed) up, county’s got the county (messed) up, the cities got all the cities (messed) up. So this is to the Boy Scouts of America. Keep the ban on gays. This is the United States of America. It’s time to take our freedom and our rights back. But the gays, the illegals, and all the tax increases, they got to go.”— Hagerstown

“I would like to know when it became acceptable to show off cleavage in the workplace. I recently was greeted by at least five inches of cleavage on an older woman, when picking up a prescription at an independent pharmacy; and on a young woman, behind the desk at the eye doctor. These necklines are fine for a dance or cocktail party, but have no place in the workplace. Employers, please demand professionalism. It’s very offensive. No wonder our kids dress inappropriately for school.”— Chambersburg, Pa.

“I was very sad today when I read the headlines of the paper, about our city, ‘the good, the bad, the ugly.’ People are going — I’m a senior citizen, I live in Potomac Towers, and I was always for the stadium being built here, and ... people were told that there would be businesses coming to town and all if they had built there. Our mayor Bob Bruchey was one of the best we’ve ever had. He brought a lot of good for this town, and in time, people are going to realize what they’ve done when they voted down not to build this new stadium. It would have been a big boost of our town, and it’s sad.”— Hagerstown

“A very good source for information about Congress, government and politics, may I suggest you watch the Jon Stewart ‘Daily Show,’ and Stewart/Colbert show on the Comedy Channel. You’ll learn a lot you didn’t know.”— Hagerstown

“I agree with the person from Boonsboro who said how stupid it would be for Boonsboro to have trash pick-up only once a week, especially for seniors at Schoolhouse Manor, who have no garbage disposals, and not able to have big, covered garbage containers to roll out to the curb. Trash would be sitting in their small kitchens all week.”— Boonsboro

“I also lived in Fairplay for 60-some years, and I agree with the gentleman who put in there about Lewis wanting to put a truck down at the ag center. That doesn’t make sense. We have a fire company. And another thing, you see all these remarks in here about the two officers, wanting them to step down, but they never say why they want them to step down. Is it because they’ve done a good job, and they don’t want to respect that? It’s time the county commissioners also open their eyes up and see what’s going on. ... I want my fire company back open.”— Fairplay

“Our present administration in Washington and yours in Maryland have twisted the Constitution, when it comes to gun control. They believe the terms of the Constitution, to bear arms, means that citizens can now wear tank tops.”— Martinsburg, W.Va.

“I was just curious about the BOE moving into the city of Hagerstown. What are they going to do with the transportation department, with all the buses? So does that mean they’re going to leave the buses out there and keep that building, and maintain that, too, along with the other one? To me, that’s a lot of expense.”— Williamsport